Unemployment Insurance

New Poll Shows Strong Public Support for Extending Unemployment Benefits
(The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights - Nov. 15, 2010)

With the unemployment rate stuck at 9.6 percent, a clear majority of Americans thinks it is premature for Congress to start cutting off extended unemployment benefits to workers, according to this poll by Hart Research Associates.

Jobs Report Highlights Need to Continue Expanded Unemployment Benefits
(National Employment Law Project - Nov. 5, 2010)

This report, from the National Employment Law Project's site UnemployedWorkers.org, focuses on the government's October 2010 employment figures. The report argues that it is essential to maintain emergency benefits for unemployed workers through 2011. The report also highlights figures about the number of jobs available and the conundrum it causes for those seeking work.

Out in the Cold for the Holidays
(National Employment Law Project - Oct. 22, 2010)

This report documents the impact of the deadline for the federal program of jobless benefits. The report has been updated to include a new category of workers who will be immediately cut off of federal jobless benefits if the program is allowed to expire on November 30th, bringing the total from 1.2 million workers originally reported to two million workers.

Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits 101
(Center for American Progress - Sept. 21, 2010)

For the past half century, Congress has always extended unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed when unemployment was high. This memo argues that doing so in this recession should be no different. It answers questions about unemployment insurance and explains the importance of extending them in these tough economic times.

Still waiting for jobs, unemployment benefits
(Economic Policy Institute - July 9, 2010)

The latest employment report from the U.S. Labor Department showed that close to half of all unemployed workers have been looking for work for more than six months. Close to two million of these long-term unemployed workers have lost unemployment insurance benefits because of Congress’ failure to maintain an extension of emergency benefits.

EPI continues to track the number of unemployed workers who have fallen through the safety net and to highlight research showing that providing unemployment compensation is one of the best ways to stimulate spending and create jobs.

Jobs Report Card
(The Brookings Institution - July 6, 2010)

The U.S. employment report released last week was discouraging overall, showing some small job gains in a still-fragile economy. Brookings experts examine the new numbers in detail, including a look at state-level data and recommendations for an extension of unemployment insurance to avoid a double-dip recession.

Long-term unemployment: Causes, consequences and solutions
(Economic Policy Institute- May 26, 2010)

This EPI forum explored the dimensions of long-term employment, examined the magnitude of the problem, the effectiveness of the unemployment insurance safety net, and the long-term consequences of policy action or inaction. The claim that unemployment insurance is leading to higher unemployment was also addressed.The program included opening remarks from Lawrence Mishel and featured presentations from four renowned labor economists. The EPI link above includes a video of the event.